


Not Yet

by sunsetrose20



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Falling In Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23258107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetrose20/pseuds/sunsetrose20
Summary: He was not expecting to wake up after letting go of the Bifröst, much less on Midgard. But he supposed worse things could happen when getting sidetracked.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	Not Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts, ideas, comments, and constructive criticism are always welcome.

The void had not brought upon his end as he had expected. No, it had taken him to Midgard instead. Alive and as well as he could be after falling through the void between worlds.

He had landed in a snow covered forest. All the trees had lost their leaves and the sunlight was shining softy on his face, his hair covered in frost.

 _Wonderful_ , he thought. Only awake for seconds and he was already being reminded of why he was lying on a pile of snow in the first place. He had never thought that being resistant to the cold could bother him so much. Why would it? But now that he knew the reason why (now that he knew the truth about his heritage), not shivering when any other creature would have been freezing made him want to crawl out of his skin.

 _Nothing that can be done about it_ , _I suppose_. The finality of it made him hurt all over again. He was not supposed to have survived the fall. He was supposed to have ridden the world of at least just the one Jötunn… and he had failed… like he always failed.

Loki laid on the ground long after the sun had gone down. Knowing he eventually would have to move did not make him any more inclined to do so. He wished he could stay there forever, staring up at the sky, snowflakes slowly falling all around him.

But he did move.

It all felt like a cosmic joke to him. Months must have passed since he fell from the Bifröst, because otherwise, from what he knew of Midgard, there was no reason for it to be winter. Unless he had fallen somewhere close to the planet's poles, which he highly doubted. He liked to believe this was the universe's way to fuck him over. By ensuring he would wake up at a time that would remind him of his disgrace.

It took him a few days to reach the first signs of civilization. It took him another few days to approach the first Midgardians. He had to make sure he would not stick out like a sore thumb in means of physical appearance, such as garments (especially garments), and mannerism. It has been awhile since his last visit to Midgard.

Ultimately, he decided to present himself as an amnesiac, which would explain why he knew next to nothing about this world. The only thing that truly bugged him was that for his plan to work, his clothes must look like they have been through rough times. He loathed looking anything but immaculate.

He stumbled upon an old married couple whose names he later came to know were Jud and Laura. He looked nothing short of ravenous, and gods knew how dirty he was. His gaunt and sickly appearance got him exactly what he was aiming for: their compassion.

Disgusting.

He came out behind some trees and fell on his knees right in front of the old man. Here was where the real work came in.

“Oh golly! Are you okay there, pal?” the man asked him as he extended a hand to help him up. Loki, like the good trickster he was, instantly recoiled away from the man, and brought up an arm to cover his face for good measure. The man looked alarmed now as he said, “Whoa there! What happened?” He came down on his knees in order to be face to face with Loki and tried to move Loki's arm away to see his face.

Loki allowed it and raised his head to reveal bright emerald eyes. He stared wide eyed at the man's face, his gaze flickering from his eyes to the hand grabbing his bony arm. The man noticed and released him, bringing his hands up to show he meant no harm.

“You look really messed up,” the old man said after a beat. “What's your name?”

Loki's gaze momentarily moved to the woman who had stayed back and kept starting at him, her hands covering her mouth. Surely he could not look _that_ bad? Had he overdone it?

Loki made sure his eyes were watering before responding.

“I don't know.” He made a move to pull his hair. “I can't remember!”

“That's okay, sweetie.” And the woman addressed him at last, making shushing noises. She, too, came closer. “We should take him to a hospital, Jud. Just look at how skinny he is!”

A hospital? _No, that simply won't do at all_ , he thought. He knew, of course, what a hospital was. They would want to carry out some tests to make sure he was alright -which he was obviously not- and they would find out he was not human in the process. A hospital was not an option.

His eyes had gone even wider at the mention of a hospital, and he was aware he had paled too. It was time to make a run for it, but when they realized what he intended, they both yelled “Wait!” in unison. It was sudden enough to stop Loki on his tracks.

“Give us a moment, will you, dear?” the woman requested. They turned their backs on him after he gave them a tense, jerky nod. He thought it stupid of them to do so. He could be dangerous for all they knew, and he _was_ dangerous. His skin pricked with irritation. He was at an awkward position: half standing, half crouching. But at least he could hear some of the words the couple was saying, so it was not much of a surprise when they asked him to go home with them.

It would have been suspicious if he had agreed immediately, so he made apprehension show on his face. They could be still planning to take him to a hospital for all he knew. But from overhearing their shushed conversation, he was sure this was not the case. It took them a while to convince him, however. He had gone this far; he would not give in to the promise of comfort so easily.

It took perhaps no more than three hours for Loki to be sitting in front of the fireplace wearing clean clothes, a blanket around his shoulders, and his hands wrapped around a warm plate of chicken soup. His plan had gone better than expected to say the least. The couple had tried to get some information out of him, of course. Simple things like his name (again), where he came from, acquaintances, what had happened to him, and how he had gotten to the point where they met. The last one was the easiest one as he could answer with the truth. The other ones just received a simple response with a shake of his head: he couldn't remember.

They offered him a bed to sleep for a few days after that, but a few days turned into a few years. Sometime during his first days of his stay with them, they decided they wanted to keep him. Just until he was on his feet again, they assured him. This was more than fine with him as he learnt that there was not much he could do without documentation, and neither the man nor the woman wanted to risk him not being on the system (something to do with his accent), where he obviously would not be, so the arrangements sounded perfect in his opinion.

Unfortunately, he was growing bored, which is how he came upon some interesting rumors from the town drunk (also a fan of some hero with the ridiculous name of Captain America). He tried not to heed them so much, but what the man was describing sounded an awful lot like an artifact he knew in another life. A new plan was forming itself inside his mind. The couple who had taken pity on him understood why he had to leave, albeit for another reason. And well, if death would not take him, then he might as well stir things up a little.

~°•°~

“Hello, sweet cheeks.”

Loki had been expecting it, true. He had made sure to leave all kinds of strange incidents in his wake to get the man's attention, to make him come to Loki out of his own volition. It had all been a matter of time. Still, he wished he could snap the mortal's neck.

“See there? You open the door to your apartment super late, ‘cuz lemme tell you, I've been waiting for you all night, and you're not even surprised to find me here. That lets me know you've been waiting for me to show up.”

“I could have been waiting for anyone.”

Loki turned the light on in the hallway and hung his coat.

“Yeah, but I can't be mistaken for anyone.”

Loki chuckled as he came deeper into the apartment.

“It must be nice to hold yourself in such high esteem, Mr. Stark.”

“Aha! You admit it!”

Sometimes, when Loki watched the man in the rectangular object that shows moving images, he wondered if he was the right choice. Then he reminded himself that Tony Stark had money and plenty of influence to get him what he wanted without having to risk being discovered.

“I admit I wished to grab your attention.”

“Don't they all?”

“I imagine so." Loki could remember all too well how every maiden called for Thor's attention. “But I'm sure you noticed something particular about me, if you have been waiting for me all night.”

“You mean the way something bad happens wherever you go? Because you seem to have quite the unlucky strike going on there, buddy.”

“Just a means to an end. Nothing harmful.”

“I noticed. A very ‘particular’ way to catch my attention, don't you think?” Loki hummed in response. “There are easier ways, you know?”

Loki pulled a face at that. He was sure he knew what the man meant, and that was step two of the plan.

“I thought it would be better for all involved if you came to me.”

“Well, here you have me. So, name? I'd tell you mine, but you already know it. No need to be redundant.”

“Loki." He added a smirk for good measure.

“That rings a bell-"

“Norse god of mischief.”

“You sure live up to your namesake.”

“No, you misunderstand me,” he said with a shake of his head. “I'm _Loki_. Norse god of mischief.” He made a small flame dance in the palm of his hand to better drive the point home. He noted with no small amount of satisfaction that the man's eyes widened and his mouth almost gaped.

“Whoa. How you doing that?”

“Magic," he answered simply.

“No, no, no. You must be doing that somehow.”

“I told you. It is magic.”

The man frowned. “Okay, look, I need you to come to my tower for-"

“The big ugly one?”

“Sure thing. Anyway, as I was saying before being so rudely interrupted,” the man grinned at him, “I need you to come for some testing, ‘cuz there's no way I'm letting this,” he motioned towards his hands, “go.”

Loki shrugged. “Fine."

“Fine?”

“Why not?”

“Umm, maybe because this is the part where you ask for something?”

Loki shrugged again. "I'm fine."

“Whatever. You're a weird one.” He started to walk towards the door and threw a “See you on Monday!” over his shoulder before muttering about “people these days.”

~°•°~

Loki dutifully teleported into Stark Tower on Monday sending people into a panic as a man appeared out of nowhere in the reception. Stark himself reached the middle of the commotion in seconds.

“Whoa, whoa. What's going on here?”

Every person who had not hidden pointed at Loki.

“You were right, Mr. Stark. This is an easier way to catch your attention.” He was positively sure his smirk only further frightened the Midgardians around him.

“This is so not what I meant.” Stark frowned and hid his face in his hands. “C'mon. Follow me and don't touch anything.”

“You did say I'm a weird one.”

The man gave another groan as they entered the moving box that went up and down between floors.

“So tell me, any reason why you decided to give the people a show?”

“I was bored.”

Stark rolled his eyes. Soon enough they were stepping out into what Loki had come to know was a laboratory. Stark guided him to an empty space in front of a table.

“Okay, I just need you to stand there and look pretty while doing what you did the other night. See what readings we can get.”

“I can do that.”

Loki moved to the place where the other man pointed and rolled his hips as he walked there. Now that he had turned his back, he could feel the other's gaze roaming his body. Once in position, he conjured a flame to his palm. Stark asked him what he could do with it, and he showed him. How many people could tell a story with only the use of fire?

Everything was fine until Stark asked “Why is your body temperature so low?”

 _Damn it!_ And to think he was actually having fun! He cursed the man, and swallowed.

“Okay, no. Touchy subject. Got it.”

Loki looked around the room for a clock and saw that it had been hours since he had arrived.

“I have to go,” Loki said around a lump in his throat and picked up his coat from a chair where it had been discarded a few hours earlier. Stark, knowing he could disappear into thin air, Loki supposed, rushed to grab his arm.

“Wait! Don't leave. I pinky promise not to ask again.” The man extended his pinky finger, and Loki just looked at him like he had gone crazy. “Right. You really don't know what that means.” He retreated and left him feeling even more awkward than before. He sighed. “Will you at least come back tomorrow?”

Loki had not come this far for nothing, so he nodded.

When he reached his apartment, Loki decided he would need more than just a glamour to hide his Jötunn heritage. He began to work on that with as much determination as he had for cleanly stealing the Tesseract.

~°•°~

The following meetings over the next months went much more smoother now that Stark knew that his biology and how he came to be on Midgard, or Earth as he called it, were sensitive topics that were not to be even alluded to. Miraculously, really, he had come to think of the Midgardian as a friend. It was not something he had ever had back on Asgard.

His plan was also coming around nicely. He was going to Stark Tower almost every day, and although most of them were for testing, that was not always the case. Lately, for example, Stark had decided that Loki’s minimal knowledge of electronics was a personal insult. One that would need fixing at once. His almost non existent knowledge of pop culture was one thing, but describing objects instead of knowing their names was too much. Too much, Loki.

"It's ridiculous, Lokes," he had said when Loki opened his mouth to complain. So Stark had stopped testing his seiðr in favor of showing him how Midgardian technology worked. Loki had been ecstatic the first time Stark forgot he was there while hacking SHIELD, the organization Loki knew possessed the Tesseract, and had later brushed it off as a learning opportunity, even though the skill was beyond Loki's grasp. The man knew that.

Stark was getting more and more comfortable around Loki, letting his guard down more often than not in his presence. The days they spent watching television, the moments in Stark's lab, and the times presenting Loki to some new aspect of Midgardian culture had helped the development of their friendship. But Loki was well aware that their easy banter and the more intimate side of their relationship were what had really warmed Anthony to him. Because somewhere along the way, he had started to call the infuriating man Anthony. But that was not enough, no. He wanted to be called Tony. Like Hel he would.

“To-ny. C'mon, just say it.” Loki shook his head. “Just once. For me, yeah? Pretty please?”

“Anthony,” he said as he trailed one hand down the man's chest. The other groaned, and Loki felt something in him stir.

“No. To-ny. Tony. It's not that difficult, Lokes.”

His hand came up to brush Loki’s hair, which lay splayed against his chest. Yes, Loki could call him Tony, but that was what everyone called him. He much preferred to call him by his full name. Loki raised his head in order to look into the other's eyes and he into his.

“Anthony," Loki purred. He had learnt that was the best way to distract him from his refusal to call him Tony, and it seemed it was time to employ it. He lifted himself up from the mattress and brought one leg up over Anthony to straddle him. “Anthony," he purred again.

“Oh no.” The other gave a weak struggle from where he lay beneath him. “I know what you're trying to do.”

“Is that so?” He nuzzled his nose against the man's neck. After a moment he brushed his lips over it.

“Yeah, you're trying to distract me,” he accused. “And I'm not too sure how I feel about that.”

Loki hummed. “I will just have to make up your mind, then.”

He kissed the other on the lips and brought out his tongue, requesting for entrance that easily granted. Anthony brought up his hands to rub circles on his waist. Loki was going to enjoy this, he knew.

When the broken Bifröst deposited him in the middle of a frozen forest, he thought it a joke. When he decided to use Anthony to carry out his plan, he thought he would have to give his best to tolerate him. It turned out he had never enjoyed another's presence as he enjoyed Anthony's. But let's not forget Loki still had a Tesseract to steal. Just not yet.


End file.
